The Irkutsk city administration has banned the rally in support of Telegram due to the large number of people wishing to take part.

The Irkutsk city administration has withdrawn its own approval for the rally against the blocking of the messaging app Telegram, which was scheduled for 1 March. This was reported by the press service of the Yabloko party.

Two days before the event, one of the organisers, the head of Irkutsk’s Yabloko branch, Grigory Gribenko, received a letter from the city administration about the new decision.

The document states that as a result of monitoring the media, messengers and social networks, there has been “significant public attention to the upcoming event.”

“The expected number of participants who may attend the rally significantly exceeds the initially declared number. Therefore, holding the rally at the approved location, taking into account the increased number of participants, creates a threat to public safety and makes it impossible to ensure the safety of those taking part,” the response said.

The organisers had stated an expected attendance of 300 people.

Previously, rallies in support of Telegram were not approved in Moscow, Vladivostok (a major port city in the Russian Far East), Voronezh (a large city in southwest Russia), and Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky (the capital of Kamchatka, in the Far East). Meanwhile, the authorities in Novosibirsk (western Siberia) and Khabarovsk (the Russian Far East) approved such actions.

• In recent months, the Russian authorities have been gradually restricting Telegram’s operations. First, calls were limited, and then officials reported the start of a general “slowdown” of the messaging app. Yesterday, 26 February, RBC, citing sources, reported that Telegram would be completely blocked in the first days of April.